How to run a batch file without launching a "command window"? [duplicate]

Solution 1:

Save the following as wscript, for instance, hidecmd.vbs after replacing "testing.bat" with your batch file's name.

Set oShell = CreateObject ("Wscript.Shell") 
Dim strArgs
strArgs = "cmd /c testing.bat"
oShell.Run strArgs, 0, false

The second parameter of oShell.Run is intWindowStyle value indicating the appearance of the program's window and zero value is for hidden window.

The reference is here http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/d5fk67ky.aspx

Solution 2:

This is just a simplification of Shaji's answer. You can run your batch script through a VBScript (.vbs) script like this:

HideBat.vbs

CreateObject("Wscript.Shell").Run "your_batch_file.bat", 0, True

This will execute your batch file with no command window shown.

Solution 3:

Just to expand on the "Use Windows Scripting" answers (which I consider best because it's built-in already) here's how to do it by using a single wrapper script and passing the name of the "real" batch file as a parameter. Additional parameters will be passed on to the batch file.

If WScript.Arguments.Count >= 1 Then
    ReDim arr(WScript.Arguments.Count-1)
    For i = 0 To WScript.Arguments.Count-1
        Arg = WScript.Arguments(i)
        If InStr(Arg, " ") > 0 Then Arg = """" & Arg & """"
      arr(i) = Arg
    Next

    RunCmd = Join(arr)
    CreateObject("Wscript.Shell").Run RunCmd, 0, True
End If

So e.g. save the above file as NoShell.vbs somewhere then call:

NoShell.vbs c:\foo\my_batch_file.bat

Finally, if you're looking to run this from somewhere that doesn't understand the .vbs file (such as an "External Tools" in Visual Studio), you'll want to call C:\Windows\System32\wscript.exe with the vbs file as its first parameter and your batch file as the second.

Solution 4:

Use start with the '/B' option. For example:

@echo off
start /B go.bat

Solution 5:

You can change the properties of the shortcut to run minimized.

To run it completely invisibly you'll need something else, like Windows Scripting.